Two Peas in a Pod
by EatMyRunez
Summary: A more traditional ninja-in-training makes a decision that leads to her have to hide in Konoha village from her own clan lest she face death and torture.
1. Chapter 1: Swift Shift

I was heading straight for the target of assassination, escorted by my dad, mom, and big sis, when I noticed a red flow in the distance. I'd seen its mushroom shape a thousand times and instantly figured it was an explosion bigger than anything I'd ever seen. As soon as we approached the residential area, I saw and took my chance to escape: when I was told to observe and learn from the assassination process. While all eyes and concentration were in the victim, I bolted, using tree branches to increase my elevation so that I could get a better look at the place. I'd seen he red glow originate. To my great surprise, there were eight more near the same area. The thorns scratching my thighs and the branches cutting my cheeks suddenly seemed to stop hurting as I realized. I need to hurry. It was probably a two and a half kilometers away. A distance I could close in approximately 40 seconds. I went up to max speed, hoping that I could get there in time and stop whatever was causing it. The flying body that landed right next to me didn't help to ease my anxiety either.

ooo

It was utter carnage. Extremities, bones, and heads lay scattered and displaced around the ruins of what used to be a village. I'd long since desensitized myself to death(of everything except humans), but the utter gore of this situation caused me to vomit. After hurling for who know how the hell long, I rushed to the site of the next explosion. What awaited me was something I couldn't expect. A giant fox fighting a bunch of bloodied people who resembled the lesser ninja my dad taught me about. I know I'm not supposed to help them but dammit they're dying out there! Steeling myself, I rushed out and took a guy who was just about to eat the swipe of a claw twice his size.

"Thanks, who are you? Those clothes... You don't look like you're from here..." He asked.

"No time to explain. This looks like quite the crisis, I'm going to support the old man swinging his giant sheathe-looking thing around."

"Sorry, but kids shouldn't be involved." The nerve of this man...

"I'm not just a kid!" I flicked him lightly and he went flying 12 feet before he landed into my arms. The utter shock on his face told me that he believed me, but I still felt the need to ask.

"Do you see that I'm not going to be just a ball-and-chain?" He nodded vigorously.

"Ok, in that case, you take a rest while I introduce my fists to this animal's face." I leapt out to do exactly as I said before he got a chance to respond. As soon as I saw the elderly man swing his... thing at the fox's face, I followed up with a surprise axe kick to the feline's already reeling head. I could tell by his growl and the fact that his head moved down a little that it had some effect. Using the kicking foot, I pushed off of the angry beast before he could claw swipe me, landing right next to the old man. To say he was surprised was an understatement but the look on his face quickly went back to one of seriousness as he went back to giving orders. Knowing our enemy was about to recover, I approached him.

"Old man! Could you get him to attempt another claw swipe again? I think I could use the opening to kick out his supporting paw while he does and get him to fall down. Then, we could all mount a joint attack to his head." He looked at me like I was crazy.

"Who are you and what're you-" Seriously, these people ask too many questions.

"-Just a passerby who wants to help- it's not important. Just... Are you down with the plan?" I was really getting aggravated at how these people doubted me because. I was young. Deciding not to continue as the fox was charging up a beam of whatever it's made of, I bolted down and hit his lower jaw with a rising knee. His mouth shut and the ball exploded in his mouth. Even though it was closed, the impact from inside of his pie hole sent my skidding back a few feet. Damn, that would've been a nasty blow. I guess that convinced him as he swung his weapon yet again and got the beast to claw swipe at all of us in an upwards diagonal manner. I dodged it and kicked the weak-point where his paw and wrist connected. It howled in pain as the limb was forced to the side and it faceplanted into the ground. The old man and his comrades were probably going to need some time to prepare the finishing blow. Time that I would need to buy. Immediately after he faceplanted, I circled around his head, punching anywhere from his lower neck to his head like Pacquiao. Luckily, he kept using his front paws to try to cut me up, keeping him on the ground in the perfect position. For something a hundred times my size, it was certainly fast. I had a hard time dodging the swings and suffered a few grazes here and there. Luckily, it seemed like it had been fighting for quite some time, so it's movements began to slow after a couple minutes of frantic swinging. After poking out its eye with a well-placed elbow, I looked back to check on the progress of the final attack's preparation. The old man used sign language to tell me to take cover, so I used every bit of strength I had to push off of the ground away from the beast. With how many people he had lined up, in knew it was gonna be big. Giving him a thumbs-up from whatever broken down building I landed on, I watched the epic finisher unfold.

It was amazing.

Some people turned giant and began pummeling the fox, a huge group of ninjas sent a salvo of volley balls, another sent huge rocks hurdling towards its face, the list just keeps going on. It all went straight for the pour thing's head. I'm an extravagant explosion of fire, rock, shadows, beat downs(which I helped with), and more, the fox was seemingly out cold. We all knew that wouldn't be enough to kill it, but I could see from the smug look on the old man's face that there was some sort of plan. Man, if dad could see this.

...

Oh crap. I forgot about them. Well, I guess they've saved me the trouble of looking for them. I can see them coming full speed ahead right... now... Well shit.

"Old man! Those guys up there are from the same clan I am and have a thing against ninjas like you! Run!" He stated at me incredulously before looking to where I was pointing. He then turned back to me.

"Well, I can't leave the Kyuubi unattended, so I guess I'll have to defeat them."

"No. No, no, no, no, NO! You don't understand! The leader can take on hundreds of me without breaking a sweat!" He noticeably stiffened at that.

"He knows I've been associating with you, he'll kill, me, and then you all!" I wasn't bluffing either. The sacred law of the shinobi came above everything, including family. I've broken several laws. I've abandoned a mission, punishable by death. I've associated with lesser ninjas, punishable by death. I've also helped to preserve the life of lesser ninjas, punishable by death. I did all three in one fell swoop, punishable by two weeks of torture followed by death.

"If he finds out... They'll... They'll torture and kill me! I can't... I-I-I-I..."

"Then he won't know."

"...Huh?"

"I'll keep it a secret. Let you stay in hiding with us."

"You.. You'd do that for me?" He nodded with a silly grin typical of the elderly. Soon after that, the fox stirred.

"Better get ready." I said.

"No need to tell us." They all had the weapons holstered already. Just then, a yellow flash appeared in front of me and a tall man sporting blond spiky hair appeared, accompanied by a short woman with red-brownish hair. Ignoring my stupor, he prepared some symbol on both his hand and a baby whom I just noticed was in the girl's arms. Before he did anything else, he shared a silent ear-to-ear whispering conversation with the old man, glancing down at me a couple of times during it. He then got down on one knee and began to talk.

"I heard you helped us out quite a bit during the battle young lady. Might I ask your identity."

"Eruna Kaguro, age 4," they all fell over anime style, "member of a nameless clan of ninjas. The traditional, unchanged remnants of he original ninjas." I finished with that concise explanation, figuring he'd heard the situation from the old man. The man then stiffened his smiling expression into one of complete seriousness.

"Can I ask you a favor?"

"Of course, anything for a friend of someone who's saving me from weeks of torture and death." I stated with a hint of sarcasm. But I meant it.

"Could you look after this child? His mom and I are going to be gone after tonight, and he won't have anyone to turn to. And this old geezer," the old man's vein near his temple visibly popped out, "is probably too busy to take care of him. We're going to seal the Kyuubi inside of him, which means he'll need support against the prejudice he'll be stuck with. Can you provide that for him?" I bit my lip in thought. Could I handle raising this kid? And protecting him from the future prejudices of this village? I'm too young to get a job...

"Will we be provided any finances?"

"Of course."

"I'll do it. I can handle it if money isn't a problem."

"Thank you. You don't know how much this means to us."

"Likewise." He had no idea.

"Anyway, I have to hide, lest we all be killed before the fox gets a chance to try again." He simply nodded and pointed to a nearby house that was still intact. Taking the baby in hand, I sprinted over to the building. Oh wait...

"What's his name?"

"Uzumaki Naruto."

"Understood, I'll take good care of him!" He smiled before nodding and changing his expression to one of overall seriousness. After hiding under the bed with the now asleep Naruto, my adrenaline wore off and a wave of two things hit me like a truck: fatigue and pain. Every tiny scratch burned as the sweat seeped into the cuts, every muscle in my body ached from wear n' tear, and I could barely keep my eyes open due to exertion. Soon, despite myself, all I could see was black...

ooo

I awakened to the sound of construction. Planks getting picked up and dropped, the streets bustling with people trying to rebuild their lost homes. I got up to see I was no longer under the bed, but in a different place entirely. White. Everything was white. A hospital room?I turned side to side to see the old man in a chair over to my left, reading a... porn magazine? The blush on his face and the eerie grin on his face confirmed my suspicions. So I gathered all the air in my lungs and...

"HENTAI! GET AWAY FROM ME!" I was wounded and vulnerable, seriously fearing for my safety. He bolted through the window at speeds I never thought were possible. My screaming was interrupted by a weak cry. Turning to the source of the noise, I noticed a whiskered infant sobbing his heart out. Feeling sorry for disturbing him, I scooped the little guy off of the side of my bed and cuddled him until he drifted back to sleep.

"Good morning, Naruto."


	2. Chapter 2: The First Day

"-ruto... Naruto..."

"Five more minutes..."

"Come on, get up..."

"Please, just a little longer..."

"Naruto WAKE UP!"

"Agh! What the heck, sis?"

"It's the first day of ninja school! Do you wanna be late?"

"Doesn't mean you had to wake me up so early..."

"Ok, lilbro. You just go back to sleep..."

"Thank y-"

"While I get an extra serving of ram-"

"I'M UP!" He leaped out of bed, showered, and got changed in a matter of seconds.

"Honestly... You never change do you, little bro?" I said as I prepared some instant ramen.

"You know my love for ramen never wavers!" At this we both chuckled.

"So, are you excited?" He stared at me in shock.

"Have you met me? Of course I'm uber psyched! Today is the first stepping stone in making people acknowledge me!" He stated with triumph. I couldn't help teasing him when he was like this.

"So I don't count? Are those mean strangers really more important than your big sister?" I fake cried and added in a sniffle for effect. Of course the effect was instant.

"Ah! I'm sorry! I didn't mean- well you, they-"

"PFFT, HAHAHAHAHHAHAH!" At his flustered apology, and the way he kept wildly waving his hands around, I couldn't hold it in any longer. It was just too funny.

"H-hey! Y-you tricked me!"

"S-sorry lit- hahaha-tle bro! I just-" I stopped in my tracks. He looked down, letting his hair cover his face while he sat completely still. This response was unusual...

"Naruto?" I asked him with concern as I walked over to him cautiously.

"I can't believe you did that to me." His voice was so cold and distant, I took a step back and felt my eyes moisten. Did he really take it to heart?

"N-Naruto, look , I-I didn't mean it, okay?"

"Save it! Only one thing will get me to forgive you..." At this point I was fighting to hold back tears. He was everything to me. I'd spent the last 6 years by his side trying only to do the opposite of what I just did.

"I'm sorry. I'll do anything." I looked away dejectedly. Suddenly he lunged forward and began tickling me. I quickly gave in, being the much more ticklish out of us 2. Before long, he had me curled up into a ball on the ground dying from laughter. The tears from laughing too hard washed out the ones stemmed from dejection and I immediately began to feel better.

"Say 'sorry, you're the awesomest brother and person in the universe' three times! He had me cornered and asked me to further humiliate myself. So I did what any older sibling would've done in that situation. I obeyed like a puppy.

"Sorry you're the awesomest brother and person in the universe! Sorry, you're the awesomest brother and person in the universe! Sorry, you're the awesomest brother and person in the universe! Hahah! I'm sorry! P-p-please st-stop!" He eventually laid off while I wad left in the center of the floor to deal with the laughing, stomach pain, watering eyes, my embarrassment, and the numbness of my entire body. I said only one thing at the moment if my recovery.

"I hate you." With sarcasm of course.

"Ramen warms the soul. Itadakimasu!" Did he actually believe that?

"Itadakimasu." I plotted my revenge while. I ate my food in silence.

"You're doing it again."

"What?"

"The look."

"Well it's your fault."

"Hey! You tricked me first!"

"Your trick hurt more." That couldn't have been more true, but I doubt he noticed. That's just how he is.

"Why can't you ever be happy when I win!?"

"Because losing SUCKS!"

"Welcome to my world!" By now, we were both standing up from the dinner table of their apartment glaring at each other. After a few seconds, we burst out into laughter at the silliness of our argument. After I settled down first, I checked the clock and realized something...

"We've only got 5 minutes." He stared at me with widened eyes for three seconds before literally inhaling his food Kirby style(followed by me of course) and dashing out the door. I ran in front of him and threw him on my back.

"Hold on tight!" I could tell from the slight back-and-forth shift of weight that he simply nodded. After he did, I ran so fast that we were at the classroom door 4 and 3/4 minutes before the bell.

I stopped at the entrance and put him down. The building wasn't anything special, consisting of a couple of bathrooms, dummies, and one hallway to connect all of the different rooms. It had tile floors, and concrete walls, the standard. I let Naruto down and held his hand protectively. The villagers had hated us since the day I took him in. My father had killed dozens of innocent ninja whom refused to give my location away, and Naruto held the nine-tails inside of him. Every anniversary of that day, they'd literally try to kill the both of us. Naturally, they couldn't hold a candle to me and were sent packing(not by getting beat up, but just displays of power on inanimate objects) every time. But this is the first time we'll be joining a public service surrounded by people raised by them. Maybe they'll just kick us out like all the other places did. While I was considering all of my doubts. I felt pressure on my right hand. I looked over to find it intertwined with his. Nodding at each other, a slight reassurance washed over me as we walked through that door together.

We were met by a man I later came to know as Iruka. He greeted us warmly, and escorted us to our seat. The nice atmosphere was interrupted by the glares & gossip of the rest of the students. Once my long since trained ears picked up a couple of guys discussing their plans about jumping Naruto while not hurting me, I stood up and walked over to their desks.

"Yeah, so after school-" He stopped suddenly when he noticed my presence, as I peered over his shoulder.

"What do you want?"

"I overheard your guys' little plan."

"What of it?"

"Call it off." The boys snickered.

"Or what?" He shouldn't have asked. I gripped his shirt as softly as I could(otherwise I'd break his collarbone) and pulled him closer to me so that my mouth was against his ear.

"You won't make it home." I whispered. He didn't seem to get the message as the response I received was straight up hysterical laughter.

"Y-you're funny! I like the new kid already! Alright guys, she's off-limits this evening!" I decided to leave with a fake smile as I decided to let them feel that I wasn't kidding later. As I walked back to my seat, Iruka walked up to the front and faced the class.

"Ohaiyo minna(Good morning, everyone)! Welcome to your first day of ninja training. My name is Umino Iruka(last name first name), but you can just call me Iruka-sensei!

"Hai(Yes)!" The class(save Naruto and I) answered with enthusiasm.

"Ok, why don't we start by introducing ourselves?"

I tried to listen, but once the fat kid and a blonde chick ranted on and on about food and hair, I just fell asleep.

"-na... -runa... Eruna!"

"What, who?" I wiped the drool off of my face as. I tried to remember where I was... In a rush, it all came back to me. The teacher, the scheming students, wait, what's going on? That's right, introductions.

"Eruna, it's your turn. Come on up."

Ignoring the chortles around the room, I walked up to the front and let my mouth do the thinking for me.

"My name is Eruna Uzumaki. I'm from a clan of traditional ninjas who upheld the ideals from the first ever group. They think of you all as lesser ninjas who've become complacent with peace. However, I got expelled from the clan once I helped fight off the nine tailed fox. Since I was injured and without a family, the third hokage allowed me to live here as thanks for my help. So here I am, trying to become a ninja of this village so that one day I can repay my debt to the third. I'm not Naruto's sister by blood, but changed my last name to prove to myself that I was leaving my old life and family behind me. And I changed my last name to Uzumaki because I was tasked with raising him from since he was an infant. Oh and by the way. If anybody bothers him, you're dead. That about covers it. Any questions?"

I ended my speech there, but it took a while for me to realize the shock on everyone's faces. After what felt like a minute of silence, everyone started rapid-firing questions at me.

"Did you really help against the fox?"

"Yep. You can go ask the third himself."

"How old were you when you helped?"

"Four."

"You're lying."

"Well I'm 10 now, so..."

"Why are you just now starting ninja school?" It was a bit later than average.

"So I could be with Naruto every step of the way."

"What are your likes?"

"Well... Strength, speed, power, awareness, everything needed to become a great ninja."

"Hobbies?"

"I don't really have any hobbies. My schedule consists of: Train, eat, sleep. With taking care of Naruto in between."

"How do you feel about Naru-"

"That's enough." Iruka interrupted. Though it was getting ridiculous, I decided to answer the last question honestly.

"Naruto is like a little brother to me. There's nothing more in this world that. I care about." The classroom went silent after that, and I decided to end it there. I walked back to my seat just to meet a scowling Naruto.

"Great, now everyone's gonna think I need to be protected by a girl." He grumbled.

"Hey, they know I'm not just any girl. I helped fight the infamous demon fox, remember?" I reassured him.

"Yeah, yeah." He didn't seem assured, so. I resolved to talk to him about it later. Maybe I was a little over-protective, but he's my brother, whom I've watched people try to kill many a times. I'm not taking any chances. Especially with ninjas.

"Naruto! You're up!" Iruka called. Naruto walked up confidently to the front with his signature grin on his face.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto! I like ramen, and I want to become a Hokage acknowledged by everyone!" The class stared blankly at how short is introduction was. It was soon interrupted by the some group of boys as before.

"Hah! The Kyuubi becoming Hokage!? That'll never happen!" The leader yelled incredulously. Naruto opened his mouth to retort, but soon shut it once he heard a dull sound fill the room. I slapped the boy who interrupted my dear brother very lightly(a lover's tap by my standards), but it forced his head completely sideways and left a dark red hand print on his cheek. Perfect.

"Shut up! You don't know anything about my brother!" I stopped it there before I went on a tangent. That was all it took to end the debate. Soon, however, Iruka walked over and helped the injured boy up.

"Now, now. Fighting is childish. I know what he did was rude but hitting him was taking it to another level. Now I want you both to apologize and shake-"

"I'm not as idiotic as all these kids. I don't need someone to come work out my problems for me like I'm some sort of toddler. He bothered my brother not even five minutes after I warned everyone up front and got a warning. That's the end of it." With that I turned my head away from a shaky student and a teacher who's forehead vein had popped out largely enough for everyone within a 180 degree radius to be able to see.

"I'm the teacher. You'll do as I say."

"Make me. If you can prove yourself stronger than me, then you'll earn my respect." I challenged.

"No, sis! Don't do that. You remember what happened to the last chunin you challenged!"

"It's fine! I can control my strength much better now. I promise I won't kill him!... This time..."

"Sis." He folded his arms and shot me a look.

"Alright, alright. Jeez, you never let me have any fun..." I pouted and mimicked his actions while puffing my cheeks. The room was silent as everyone was dumbfounded at how he got me to listen so easily just when I gave Iruka such a hard time.

"Apologize to him."

"But he-" I was defending him. Why'd I have to apologize? Why'd he of all people want me to apologize?

"I'm gonna be Hokage, remember? I can't lead a village if you're babying me all the time."

I was hesitant, and as a last ditch attempt, I glared at him.

10 seconds. We entered a staring contest.

20 seconds.

30 seconds. Funny thing about that is:

40 seconds. I never win.

50 seconds. My left eye began to twitch.

One minute. Everything from the socket to the inner retina was screaming.

75 seconds. I blinked.

"Dammit!" I muttered under my breath. He gave a triumphant smirk and motioned with a tilt of his head to go apologize. Never losing my pout, I did as he asked.

"Sorry Iruka."

"Iruka-sensei." He reminded. I shot him a look before hanging my head down in defeat,

"Sorry Iruka-sensei. You too, uh, whatever your name is." Iruka smiled while the boy muttered the same. Keeping my head down to hide my expression, I walked solemnly back to my seat as Iruka continued class. As I sulked, I felt a hand pat my back. It was Naruto.

"Thanks, sis." He gave me a warm smile. I smiled back; we both knew I couldn't stay mad when he gave me that look...

ooo

"Argh! I don't get it! How the heck do I use this chakra or whatever!?" Naruto raged while scratching his head angrily for the nth time. We were outside, learning how to get in touch with our chakra. He'd been failing and failing at just getting in touch with it for hours. I, on the other hand, had long since learned the basics privately from the third. Not that I needed it with my monstrous strength. Tired of watching(and hearing) him fail, I decided to let him in on a little secret.

"Naruto, come here. I'm gonna tell you a little secret I use for my chakra."

"Really? YES!"

"Shh, sh, sh, shhhhh... It's a secret between you and me, ok?" I'd snapped my hand over his mouth, so all he could do was nod.

"Ok, so sit butterfly position across from me and hold your hands out. Close your eyes and concentrate on my instructions. I'm going to send you a little bit of my chakra so that you can get the feel for it." He nodded, but as soon as my chakra current intertwined with his, I was sent flying back first into the wall 20 feet behind me. Just the impact and speed at which I'd hit it left a crater with a radius that more than tripled my height.

"Damn, that hurts!" The concrete was far softer than my bones so it wasn't that much of an issue, but I felt pain shoot through my entire body for some reason. He knew my strength and didn't bother getting up to help. Despite myself, I found that it hurt too much to move a single inch from where I was.

"Naruto..." I coughed. "H-help!" He walked up to me with an eyebrow raised and tried to pull me out of the crater.

"AGH! D-don't touch me!" I screamed. The moment he made contact with my body, the pain that was shooting through my veins felt like it increased tenfold, and it took every bit of my strength not to pass out. What the hell was happening? I felt myself slipping, both out of the crater and out of consciousness. As my eyes closed, the last thing I heard was my name being called...


	3. Chapter 3: The Average Patient

Drifting outside of my consciousness, all I could see was black, black, pitch black, and... more black. My favorite color. Black was cold, simple, and unpredictable. It resembled the wonders, fears, and protection of the unknown, that which desired the ability to stay hidden. It's a direct reflection of myself in a lot of ways. I've hidden so many aspects of my personality to everybody that's its funny. However, with the way things are going, I wouldn't have had it any other way. I wish I could bask in this, this sheet, this shelter. Lies aren't always bad, especially white li-... White. That blinding purity that I was raised to avoid since day one: light. The closer to white a color is, the more revealing, and thus the more dangerous it was. As I continued to revel in the pitch black of my unconsciousness, a sudden flash of light left my eyes burning like hell. Wait, my eyes? The black returned and, as tempted as I was to let it stay, I decided to face the dreaded white.

Surprisingly enough, I was met with a flash of yellow in the bottom portion of my peripheral. After taking a second to look down, I saw a baggy-eyed Naruto sleeping soundly on my lap. I'll admit, I'd go as far as say that he looked adorable if the pool of drool hadn't covered my legs from the upper thigh all the way down to my ankles. Wait, but why was I here in this white room with Naru-...

It all came back to me in a flash. The first day at school the chakra training, the excruciating pain in my body. He must've watched me all night... My train of thought was interrupted when a nurse walked into the room.

"Are you feeling alright?" She asked with concern evident on her face.

"Nothing feels wrong, atleast I don't think... How long have I been out?"

"62 hours." My jaw nearly dropped.

"Two and a half days!? Has Naruto been here the whole time!?"

She nodded with little emotion.

"Was he fed?" I swear if she says no... As her face lit up with realization followed by evident anxiety, I paled.

"Ma'am, I want you to stay very calm. It is not this hospital's responsibility to-" I dashed off with Naruto slung over my shoulder faster than you could say Ichikaru. Using all of my strength(which wasn't much since I was out cold for almost three days), I leapt across the rooftops with a speed staggering to ninja of any rank. I found myself at home in a matter of seconds. Once I got inside, the silence let me know that I was hyperventilating. The way Naruto's skin was paling didn't help much either. Not wasting a second, I rushed into the kitchen and readied some instant ramen and water since it was all we could afford with the meager allowance the third squeezed out for us. I poured a cup of water down his throat while I was impatiently waiting. After a couple of minutes -what felt like years- the instant ramen was done. I held it right under Naruto's nose with ever growing anxiety. I was about to give up all hope when, all of his sudden, his eyes snapped open, and he literally dug his face into the bowl. Once he finished inhaling his food, he looked blankly into my eyes for a good eight seconds(he obviously acted only on animalistic instinct a while ago) and blinked a couple of times.

"Big sis? What... Where-". He was cut off by a swift smack upside the head, courtesy of moi.

"What the hell, Naruto!? Do you know how worried I was? What's the deal going days without eating or drinking!?" I yelled. His little stunt irked me more than he'd ever know. The way he sheepishly grinned and scratched the back of his head aggravated me more. He

"It's no big deal-"

Kept.

"Right? I"

Making.

"only need eight bowls-"

Me.

"Of ramen(he thought that was a little bit?)-"

Angrier.

"Per meal, so I'm fi-"

SLAP

The fake smile on his face was replaced by a high degree of hurt and mistrust. I knew how much he tried not to make others worry about him, but he needed this.

"You're not fine. Going three days without nourishment is enough to put someone who isn't also feeding a giant nine-tailed beast powerful enough to bring entire villages to the ground in mortal condition! How stupid do you think I am!? Did you really think that your own sister could possibly not worry about you or not feel distrusted when you lie to my face!? Am I that uncaring and dumb to you, is that what it is!? Or do you just not love enough to trust me with your burdens? He visibly flinched at that last bit. We were each other's world, and I knew it was as low as a low blow could get.

"Big sis, I just wanted to show that I was strong enough to endure it and watch over you, because I thought you'd always thought of me as a weak l-little kid who needs p-protection... " He started sobbing.

"I love you sis, sorry to make y-" He was cut off by a tight(by his standards, anyway) hug from me and a kiss to the forehead. Squatting down to his level with my hands on his shoulders, I took a deep, shaky breath and carefully gathered my thoughts before speaking.

"Naruto, you're not weak. You never have been and never will be -well, maybe until you get older than the third," this elicited a small chuckle from the fragile crying boy in my arms.

"Look, it's not about whether you need protection. It's my job to protect you as your older sister. It's what older siblings do, they look out for their younger siblings so that when they come across a seemingly unbeatable obstacle the younger sibling knows that the older sibling has their back. That together they can overcome anything. Understand? I don't doubt your ability, it's just my job to help you in preparation for that one thing that you just can't get through on your own. And it'd not just family either. Friends, partners teammates, they all share and carry a burden to heavy for any single one of them, and together they reach their goal, whatever it may be." I finished my lecture and hugged him one last time. I then sat him on the living room couch next to me to continue.

"I'm sorry for what I said, you know I didn't mean it, right?"

He nodded.

"I love you, Naruto, and there's nothing you can do that'll ever change that. I know I may snap at times like what happened a couple of minutes ago, but it's only because I care about your well- being. Anytime you do something like what you just pulled, it feels like my heart stops. Remember. You're more important to me than myself. I couldn't live without you. Can you promise your big sister something?"

"Of course!" I was glad to see his mood lightened.

"Promise not to put yourself in a position where I could potentially lose you..." I squeezed him a little harder and held back some tears. I couldn't lose my family, not a second time.

"Alright, pinky swear?" He held up his left pinky.

"Pinky swear."

ooo

"So, old man. Any idea what happened to me?" I asked the third as he furrowed his brows in a chair on the other side of the hospital room.

"When you tried to connect your chakra to Naruto's, the Kyuubi's chakra seeped into yours and tried to invade, like a virus: systematically destroying your chakra -which will lead to death- and replacing it with the fox's own. During the two days you were out, we had seven medical ninjas working together to pull out the fox's chakra faster than it could spread." He explained. Even though I paled, I hid the fear evident on my face by pretending to observe the events going on outside the window.

"What would've happened if huge entire process was completed?"

"I don't know. The first Hokage was the only one who could control all of the tailed beasts. However, the methods he used as well as a good amount of other knowledge of the tailed beasts died with him many years ago." He shrugged casually and then looked over to me. Despite myself, my jaw had dropped a tiny bit, something he took notice of.

"So anyway, where's Naruto?" He changed the subject in response to my surprise, as if he knew that I was gonna ask why. I guess I'll just have to dig around for it later.

"At school." I continued to stare at the window to hide my expression. The kids there might try to bother him since he's a jinchuriki whom just hospitalized me(albeit accidentally, but from the last six years of experience, people seem to overlook things like that), his only family. Plus, he was always a bit of a troublemaker, pulling pranks and not thinking before he acts. Come on, hospital discharge me already!

"Worried about him?" The knowing look on his face when I turned back at him told me he already knew the answer to that question.

"How'd you-"

"I've lived a long time."

"No kidding." I responded in a split-second's time, something that visibly annoyed him.

"You're not supposed to agree when an old ma-"

"Back to Naruro," I cut back to the first topic, something that had the desired effect of the old man's heightened annoyance. Even though he didn't retort, he kept muttering something about a women, age, and hypocritical behavior.

"Well..." I began, "I'm not sure he'll be able to fend for himself without me. Ever since you passed that law, which pretty much alerted everyone to whom the demon-container was, great job by the way," His left eye twitched twice but I ignored it,"as well as that incident 6 years ago, attempts on our lives have been pretty frequent- almost daily. Of course, I've dealt with them, but I hid just about all of it from Naruto, so I wonder how he'll take it on his way home. Of course, he knows of the prejudice, but not the extent that they'll go..." I ranted worriedly. I saw the usually laughing old man change his expression into one of complete seriousness before switching back to the toothy smile Naruto learnt from him and answering:

"You're worrying too much, remember, this is. Naruto here. You trained him well enough, didn't you? You're skill level(sans chakra) is just past jounin level, and I'd say he's chunin level based off of the stories you told me." He finished. Sitting back and thinking about it for a second, I guess he was right. I mean, I trained him to be able to live easily in the wild, and I made sure his taijutsu as well as studying habits were top-notch. He also handles kunai and shuriken at an expert level. Who was I kidding, he'll be fine!

"I guess you're right! Thanks, gramps!" I smiled at him, again brushing off his twitching left eye and threats to knock me down to size.

"So when can I expect to be discharged?" I asked. I was never very fond of sitting still(more like ready to throw a tantrum if I say still for more than hour at any time other than sleep). I saw the third ponder for a second.

"Well, given your abnormally quick recovery rate(I perked up), I'd say anywhere from two months to a year."

"WHAT THE HELL!?" I jumped up and yelled. In my fit of rage and curses, I missed the amused Cheshire grin on his face that stretched from ear to ear. His face turned red from trying to hold in the laughter, but he ultimately failed and burst out laughing hysterically at my face.

"AHAHAHAHHAHAHAA! That look was... PRICELESS! Oh my god, fourth, if you could see the look... pfft... On her face right now..." He was rolling on the ground. Literally. His laughter stopped me dead in my tracks. After taking a couple seconds to process what was happening, I struggled to suppress the ever growing rage and embarrassment welling up inside me. I knew it wouldn't last long, and judging by the look on his face, he knew it too. All it took was 3. 2. 1, then... I pounced.

"YOU MUST DIE!" I screamed. He struggled and failed to get me off as I clung to him and attacked like some kind of stray cat: scratching and biting him all over, using my nails and grip to crawl all over his body and avoid his grabs. He was helpless against my wrath. There was no room for mercy.

"I COME IN PEACE! Oh please, not the balls. Not the balls. OH GAWD NOT THE B-EYAAAAAAAA!" I nailed him right where it hurt and proceeded to slam his head seven times against the floor. I heard that it erases someone's memory from an anime I saw called Noucome. On the third slam, a couple of medic ninja, some anbu, Naruto, and some girl from the. Hyuuga clan all barged in on me. Just in time to witness the other four slams. With each impact, the floor cracked more and more(not that I noticed or would have cared at the time) and each person present winced at each slam. Once I finished, I turned a sadistic smile to the others who were petrified with fear.

"Oh hello there, comrades." I hissed, eliciting a shiver from said comrades, "I'm going to erase your memories in just a sec, it'll all be over soon..." I continued inanely, sharpening my kunai. I saw the anbu raise their weapons whole the medics & 2 academy students attempted to turn tail and get backup. Attempted.

"Oh where do you think you're going," I said when I teleported behind them via Body Flicker Technique, "com-" I gripped their shoulders hard enough to shatter a boulder(literally),"rades?" They all sweat dropped. They knew what was coming. Nobody spoke of that day's events again, courtesy of 49 head slams.

ooo

It's been 3 days since the epic(and mysteriously unexplained) beat down given by moi. I was finally getting discharged. It took hours of constant complaining, but it friggin' worked! No way in hell am I staying here for a week and a half! Thinking about it still makes me shudder in fear. Anyway, Naruto and the same Hyuuga girl from last time were waiting for me at the exit of the hospital. When I walked towards them with a wave, I noticed the clingy girl hide behind Naruto. Crap, did I not slam her head hard enough? Nah, the wraps around their foreheads can't be a coincidence. She's probably just shy. Or scared, considering the violent nature I displayed on the first day. Erasing all doubts from my mind, I went to greet them both.

"Hey Naruto! How's school been for you?" He grinned in response.

"It's been awesome! I sent those bullies you told off packing and I made a new friend!"

"But no friend's as important as your big sis, right?" I said while getting him into a light, semi-headlock. He flushed a little bit in embarrassment but soon forgot all about it when we began wrestling in the dirt.

"U-um, h-hello. My name is H-Hinata of the Hyuuga c-clan..." A light, barely audible voice spoke. We couldn't hear her, so we went on wrestling. I had Naruto on a triangle choke hold, but he slammed me on the ground to loosen my grip, causing me to grunt a little bit. He took the moment slip out of the near-submission and go for the People's Elbow, but I managed to side roll out of the way just before my face got bashed inwards. While he was recovering, I faked a jab and went in for the tackle(It always works, even though he knows that jabs aren't allowed in our grappling matches). He groaned in both pain and frustration at that cheap move that nailed him for huge umpteenth time. I then gorilla rolled over him and got him into an arm submission. He struggled for a little bit before side rolling, taking me with him and loosening my grip enough for him to counter with a leg hold. We continued this cycle of roll and counter until I got him in a backwards choke hold with his legs laying flat on the ground. Unable to use his lower body to escape and having his core restrained by my criss-crossed legs, he finally said:

"I give." I let go of him and we both rolled onto our backs, gasping for air, but laughing at the same time.

"Yay, that makes 220 for me, 0 for you~" I cheered while sticking a playful tongue out at him.

"I never win..." He complained. It was true, but,

"Oh stop whining, I'm not the one who gets to use chakra to augment their strength, speed, and stamina." I retorted. At this he pouted at me childishly.

"I almost had you a couple times."

"Well it was easily the closest you've ever gotten to beating me." I admitted. He then stared at me expectantly. I knew what he wanted, but pretended not to understand.

"What're you staring at me for?" I asked, though already knowing the answer. He opened his mouth to answer, but then went straight into his puppy-eyed look.

"AHH MY EYES!" I shrieked. He got me off-guard by pretending not to catch on, and I didn't have enough time to avert my eyes. I hated that thing, it always worked. Who the hell could resist that look? Trying my hardest to outlast him in the stare down, I was stumped when he began quivering his lip and somehow changed his eye color from the usual blue to the same black of a real puppy. In a matter of seconds, I gave in. HOW DOES HE FUCKING DO THAT!?

"You did a great job, little bro. I'll t-t-tr-tre-treat you to I-Ichiraku's..." I struggled. Treating him to that place was suicide, and I knew it'd clear me out, including the extra cash. I'd saved up from doing odd jobs in my spare time to afford those earrings... He knew my dismay but kept up the puppy-eyes.

"And... You can sleep in my bed tonight," his lip quivered more, "I mean- for the whole month!" He smirked triumphantly. DAMN IT!

"I swear, I'm so getting you for this." I mumbled with a glare. As he was about to retort, I noticed a haphazard spew of steam in both of our faces, so I turned to the source. It was the girl. How long had she been there? Her face looked red and she couldn't get a single syllable out despite her mouth opening and closing repeatedly. Why would she be flustered? I thought back to the words we just exchanged before it dawned on me. To the average bystander, it would seem I just promised Naruto that I'd go on a date, which, when paired with how I said he could sleep with me, makes us look like an underage couple. I felt heat rise in my cheeks as I stammered to explain myself.

"I-it's not what it looks like! W-we're not like that!" I yelled while waving my hands in the air in embarrassment. Seeing someone else just as embarrassed seemed to make her comfortable enough to get some words out.

"I-it's okay... I-if Naruto a-and you a-are l-like that-" she began, but I cut her off abruptly.

"I JUST SAID WE'RE NOT!" I screamed in a last ditch attempt to clear up the situation. It seemed to work as realization dawned in the Hyuuga girl's face and she looked down.

"O-oh, ok..." She said, another blush appearing on her face. And- wait... Is that... a smile? Holy crap, does she like him!? Speaking of him... I turned to Naruto whom was staring at us questioningly, apparently not understanding what just occurred. Nodding at each other, the girl and I both turned to him and politely said "it's nothing." He raised an eyebrow but, to our relief, brushed it off. Turning back to the girl, I asked her what her name was.

"H-Hinata Hyuuga." She answered nervously. I had to admit, she was adorable. I just wanted to give her a big hug just looking at the way she cutely played with her fingers when she talked. So that's exactly what I did. Her blush and stammering didn't help me fight the urge either.

"I'm Eruna Uzumaki. Nice to meet you. I think we're going to be good friends~" I smiled. I could practically sense that Naruto was tired of being excluded from the conversation, so I changed the topic to one that involved him and Hinata.

"So how'd you two meet?" I asked. Right on cue, Naruto jumped in and began telling the story enthusiastically.

"Well I was going after class to do some training before I came to get you because there was still time before your discharge, so I was heading to one of my favorite spots to work on things privately away from the usually crowded training fields. On the way there, I heard hysterical laughs and a scream so I immediately ran in the direction of the sounds. Within a half a minute, I saw Hinata being pounded on by the same group of boys that you told off." At this, the veins in my upper right temple popped out. I'm gonna kick some ass when I get back.

"They kept droning on about how she had it easy because of her Kekkai genial and her being the cousin of the top student, so I jumped in and got their attention on me, saying that she worked hard and that was why she did so well," I noticed Hinata blush again and look away with a small smile. Boy, she has it bad. "And so they attacked me saying that my b-word of a sister did all my work for me. Once I told them that was the last straw, they pulled their kunai and attacked me. But they were moving in slow motion, so it was painfully easy to take them down. Once I tied them up and reported them to Iruka-sensei, I helped Hinata up, treated her wounds, and took her with me here." He finished. Wordlessly, I began walking in the direction of the academy.

"Big sis, where are you going?" Naruto asked skeptically. I turned back to him, making no attempt to cover up my sadistic smile or killing intent.

"Just gonna go handle some unfinished business..." I said. Whether it was my hissing voice, killing intent, facial expression, or drawn kunai, it doesn't matter. Naruto and Hinata caught on quickly and made to tackle me. I sidestepped Naruto and had to resist the urge to laugh as he ate a mouthful of dirt, but Hinata soon wrapped around the side and nailed me with an oddly low head butt to my waist, but I used substitution, so she wound up meeting the same hilarious fate as Naruto. He began throwing rocks at me and I laughed.

"What so you think some measly pebbles are gonna do to- OW! WHAT THE HELL!" They were chakra infused! When the hell'd he learn to do that!? It wasn't important, those things drilled into my skin like butter and left me bleeding as if I got stabbed with a demon wind shuriken. As I frantically attempted to dodge the rock salvo(seriously, where was he finding those things!?), Hinata ran at me from and let a rock hit her from behind and used substitution. Crap, she used that so she could teleport and not give me a chance to dodge! I turned around, immediately regretting it since I got pelted all over my back from that little death machine of a blond over there and saw nobody.

"Above you!" Hinata yelled as her heel connected heavily with my face. I saw stars for a moment, but quickly recovered and blocked her follow-up palm strike. Of course, it left me open for a rock hit and I took a wound from it, but I'd rather take that then have my brain implode. However, she took another rock to the back and substituted again. This cycle of rock throwing, teleportation and surprise attacks from my blind spots continued for a good 15 minutes. I couldn't concentrate enough to substitute as I had to focus on dodging the rocks and defending against those teleportation strikes, and the sweep kicks Hinata three kept me from getting a chance to bend my knees enough to speed out of there. I was trapped and was only kept standing by willpower. I was sure to lose until something happened. Naruto finally ran out of fucking rocks! I shifted all of my focus to Hinata as she went for a roundhouse to my head. I caught her leg, swung her over my head a couple of times, and slammed her into the ground. As strong as she was, her body was pretty frail. All it took was two repetitions of that to knock her out. Once I tossed her limp body aside, I found naruto had already closed the distance and I just barely managed to duck his right cross. I poured everything I had into the counter uppercut that met his chin cleanly and lifted him off of his feet. Before he could recover I followed up with a chakra infused side kick to the chest that sent him flying a good 40 meters away. I huffed and dropped down to one knee. Incredibly fast recuperation was something that ran in the family that I used to be a part of, so one would think I had the advantage, but Naruto had the Kyuubi sealed in him. As he began to stand up, my vision blurred and blacked in & out haphazardly. Man, the lie was worth it to get a good fight like this. Most jounin and anbu are too busy to give me good sparring matches.

"Congratulations Naruto, Hinata. You've won." With that, I passed out with one of the most satisfied smiles I've worn in years.

ooo

I woke up to see Hinata and Naruto lying down in the same spots, eyes wide open, obviously still resting from our previous bout. All of our stomachs growled, and, with a laugh, I asked:

"Wanna swing by Ichiraku?"


	4. Chapter 4: Cause and Effect

"Grandpa Hiruzen. I'd like to ask you something." I'd just called for the third from behind his office's door. It was midnight, and Naruto was long asleep. Only gramps could really help me out with this, and the potential dangers kept me from letting my little bro get involved.

"Come in." He said after opening the door for me. Going back behind his desk with his folded hands supporting his chin in a sophisticated matter, I could tell he knew that this conversation was going to be serious. I walked in and took a deep breath, as I knew I was going to be asking a lot.

"Sarutobi-sama, I'd like to meet Shisui Uchiha of the Body Flicker." I said, watching as he widened his eyes either from the way I addressed him or what I was asking for.

"I know it's a lot to ask, but he's really the only one who can help me. I'm fully aware of the fact that he's currently the strongest Uchiha alive and that he's watching the Anbu Itachi due to suspicious behavior, as well as how their clan is planning a coup." His jaw opened ever so slightly in surprise and I was quick to elaborate on how I got my hands on that information.

"I made a few anbu friends back when I helped with the Kyuubi, some of which whom were willing to let me in on the current situation for the right price. In exchange, I swore not to tell anyone who they were even if it killed me." I finished the explanation as he face palmed at the lack of secrecy of his elites.

"With his knowledge, I'd like to make up for any disturbances this request causes in the operation by helping in other aspects of it." I let that part of the proposal hang in the air. He knew that I was fully capable of spying on the Uchiha from within their own walls with ease, as well as bypassing their Sharingan's sight by cutting off my own chakra flow. I was physically superhuman without the use of it. As someone who's lived completely independent of said chakra, disrupting the flow, cutting it off, and later straight up suppressing it to a level equivalent to that owned by a flea were some of the first techniques I learned, since my taijutsu prowess was thrown out the window if I got caught in genjutsu or Kekkei Genkai and these techniques completely voided that weakness. When it came to a clan that prided itself and sometimes was overly reliant on a Kekkei Genkai, I was the perfect fit, for battle and for spying.

"Hmmm... What do you want to meet Shisui for?" He asked, mulling over the conditions. We both knew that the answer to that question was the last factor in his decision.

"I wish to study the Body Flicker Technique under him. I favor using unrefined chakra or intensified lower-level jutsu to either augment or correlate with my physical abilities, and the Body Flicker technique fits that bill perfectly in terms of speed and maneuverability. However, I've heard about the way his Body Flicker works, he leaves not a single trail of his existence behind, and I'd like to learn how to do that. Of course, I'd be paying him for his time as well." I ended it at that, preferring not to tell him how I got the cash. Naruto and I had mainly been living off of allowance given to us by the third. Now it was by no means small, in fact, the amount we got by the month exceeded the yearly salary of most civilians. But with Naruto eating enough to feed the most powerful of the tailed beasts, and both of us having the appetite of a Walrus suffering from gigantism, we barely had enough to keep ourselves fed with the cheapest food on the market. Instant old man mulled over it for about a minute, his facial expression changing as he went through what I believe was an internal debate before sighing and sending me a light smile. In anticipation, my excited body began jittering & bouncing about while a smile crept its way onto my face.

"No." He said sternly, demeanor changing into one of complete seriousness. I was literally about to snap on him because he got my hopes up when he just burst out in boisterous laughter.

"pfft. HAHAHAHAHAHA! I'm just kidding! Holy crap, did you see the look on your face!? It was l-li-pmph... HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Just like that, he started pelting me with laughter-interrupted taunts. I started laughing with him despite myself after a good 10 seconds of me trying and failing to both pout and hold in said laughter. After what felt like an eternity of cackling, incoherent attempts at speaking, and tear-wiping, we finally reigned ourselves in and I managed to choke out a thank you. My stomach and throat were killing me after all of that.

...

I was going to need plenty of orange juice...

TWO DAYS LATER

The day I was going to be meeting my soon-to-be mentor, and I was running late. Not a good first impression. Naruto and I has gotten into a bit of a scuffle once I insulted Ichiraku's miso. Seriously, pork's much better, right? Curse that healing factor of his, I would've been done in a matter of minutes if that stupid fox wasn't giving him so much extra stamina; seriously, he had wayyyyyy more than enough already. Couple that with the time it took to treat his wounds once I battered him too fast for any combination of healing factor and medic-nin could help with, treat said injuries, and fabricate a convincing story as to where I was going and you've got yourself a delay that would make whoever coined the term 'rush hour' hide in the nearest wormhole. Using the body flicker technique repeatedly, I made my way to our meeting spot at speeds rivaling the Raikage himself.

Of course that was a bit of an exaggeration, but a girl can dream, can't she?

Our meeting spot was far outside of the village; it went around 15 miles past the Hokage Monument. By the time I got there, albeit being a bit proud that I made it there within five minutes, an exasperated gramps was staring me down with a huge tick mark adorning the side of his temple and an impatient foot tapping so hard and so fast that it sent shock waves that extended around 12 feet out in every direction. Yeah, confidence down the drain. Nervously poking my right cheek, I walked out into the Forest of Quiet Movement towards the angry geezer. Once he opened his mouth to speak, I winced preemptively as I expected him to go into a loud fit of shouts and lectures, but to my surprise, he let me off with one line.

"You're so lucky today's my day off..." He said lowly. Somehow, that was scarier than his usual tantrums. All I could do was nod dumbly as he stepped off to the side to reveal a man looking expectantly down at me. He had short, dark, unkempt hair with some bangs going over his headband, well-defined eyelashes that turned upwards at the end, black eyes, and the standard Uchiha attire: a high-collared, dark-coloured outfit along with a tantō strapped to the right side of the back of his shoulder as well as a harness for his tantō which ran across his chest and fastened over both his shoulders.

"Are you him?" I asked. My answer was a curt nod and I, reading the lips of gramps as he mouthed 'he knows everything already,' decided to simply pay him on the spot to show I was serious. Pulling out 20,000 ryo from my back pocket, I walked towards the idle Uchiha with the money in my outstretched hand. To my surprise, he simply swiped it and put it in his pocket without a word.

"So... What do you suggest we do, now?" I asked, trying to start a conversation. His silence was getting to me so I looked over to the old man for some sort of help.

Only to realize that there was a dummy in his place with 'good luck' written on it. Resisting the urge to sigh and face palm, I turned back to Shisui to find that he wasn't there anymore. Sending out a pulse of chakra(something I picked up from Iruka in exchange for some measly porn) I realized he was behind me so I whirled around. He was smirking with his arms folded. Was this the training right now?

"Hit me." He said. And then vanished. He was so fast! Even when I channeled chakra into my eyes, he disappeared from view the moment I had him in sight all the same. Maybe if I move at his speed and let my eyes adjust while also channeling chakra into them, I could keep track of him long enough to catch him in between bursts. That wouldn't be a problem if I could actually move at his speed.

"Damn it, sit still!" I yelled in aggravation. In my full speed, I could see him looking at me with a wide smirk on his face while he back pedaled. He was easily outpacing me with leisurely back pedaling! Now I was easily one of the fastest and strongest in the village by physical standards. I had an abnormally large amount of chakra, it was, from what the gramps told me, biju level without me even needing to train it, so when I say that Shisui Uchiha was moving at speeds I never thought possible, then that means he can go around you 250 times in the blink of an eye.

My attempts and miserable fails at coming close to touching him continued for two hours before I just quit. Needless to say, he was lying on the ground panting like a shaggy dog in the desert that didn't drink for three days when I gave up while my breathing had barely accelerated at all. I smirked at the weakness I found and walked up to him.

"Sensei, you still alive?" I joked, poking all over his motionless body before one of my pokes to the armpit got him to jolt slightly. Ticklish, hm?

"No wonder you don't let yourself get caught~" I laughed. I could see his increasing sweat and decided to make his fears a reality. Without warning, I began wiggling my fingers in his armpits, neck, hamstring, and stomach- all the typical sweet spots.

"Pfft. Haha... S-stop tha-hahaha! I-I me-haha-an i-it! Pmph, hahahahahahaha! I give! I give! M-make it stop!" He commanded, laughed, and begged. In all his squirming around, he'd accidentally poked somewhere around my left ribs, eliciting an involuntary 'eep!' from me. Crap, I can't let this weakness get found out! His eyes had widened when I did so, but I continued to tickle him(much to his chagrin) in hopes that he would believe it to be a mistake. However, just as I was reaching for his belly button, his right hand shot out and poked my left armpit, causing me to retract my hand. In a flash, he had me pinned down with an intimidating finger wiggling on my right side.

"Well, well, what have we here?" He said with a mischievous grin etched on his face. Oh no...

"Haha... Uh... Sorry?" Thus was my flimsy attempt at escaping this situation.

"Close but no cigar~"

"Well, atleast it was a good try-"

"No, it really wasn't..."

"Sh, you."

"Let the tickle torture begin."

"Kishi, help me..." I inwardly prayed.

ooo

After my hours of being cruelly tickled half to death, I took some time to get to know Shisui(yep, already on a first name basis, don't I have such a way with people?). Turns out the son of a gun was only trying(successfully) to unnerve me with his creepy silence earlier. He's actually pretty amicable and somewhat childlike. Anywho, he was the complete opposite of the 'greatest prodigy of the Uchiha ever known' that I expected. After a bit of small talk, he'd finally let me in on the main concept behind his body flicker.

"Ok, so you know that in the body flicker technique, one channels their chakra throughout their body and then dashes in a certain direction while either using only the chakra for mid-air propulsion or using chakra and body for dashes on land, correct?" He said. I nodded my head as confirmation and he decided to continue.

"The problem with this is, simply channeling your chakra tends to cause a lot of it to be wasted. You've seen how it usually leaves behind items resembling your chakra's affinity as well as an afterimage. To get rid of-" He paused when I raised my hand.

"Um, what's chakra affinity?" I asked. In an instant, his calm look was replaced by one of exasperation and annoyance.

"How in the hell do you not know- ugh..." He sighed while dragging a hand down over his face. Right then, I got annoyed and broke the formal atmosphere.

"Are you trying to make me feel stupid?"

"I-"

"'Cause ya are! Jerk face." I pouted and turned away from him with my arms folded. He could've just answered my question, but instead he had to make a big deal about it and insult my intelligence! Well forget him then. Then he chuckled a little bit at my dropping my maturity.

"Sorry, sorry, Eruna-chan. Look, I'll treat you to something later, alright?" He asked in attempt to reassure me, but I could barely even respond. 'Eruna-chan?' A blush made its way into my face despite myself. Eruna was fine because it meant we were pals, but it seemed a bit too soon to be getting familiar enough to add a -chan. I didn't notice how long I'd been out of it until he waved his hand in front of my face.

"Eruna-chan? Anyone home?" There it is again... Maybe it's because I'm younger than him that he feels a bit more comfortable with the suf-

"Boop."

"Hey! What the hell'd you smack me upside the head for Shisui-kun!?" I yelled. He must've put a good amount of chakra into that because it actually stung.

"Good, you're still alive. For a second, I thought you went ahead and fainted from over exposure to my perfect skin and alluring eyes." He said nonchalantly as if it were completely normal. Being the witty person I was, I sputtered incoherently and created a new shade of red with my face.

"I-, Wha-... You can't-, t-that wasn't..." I stammered and continuously failed to form sentences before he just burst out in boisterous laughter. In an aggravated response, I lightly hit him on his arm, causing him to cave in considerably and rub his arm in pain.

"Did you really have to hit me that hard?" He whined. I tilted my head in confusion.

"Hard? How?" I asked in honest-to-goodness ignorance. Realization and fear dawned on his face as he let out a whistle of acknowledgement.

"You're a beast. What do you eat?"

"Instant ramen."

"Hm. Maybe I should-"

"No, you really shouldn't."

ooo

It's been about a month since I started my training with Shisui of the Body Flicker and I'd recently 'graduated,' so to speak, from his lessons yesterday. The trick was to condense my chakra so that it wouldn't coat my body, but would alter it from the very center of the chakra pathways, compacted into a tiny thread that stretched out throughout my whole system. This increased its effectiveness and lowered chakra cost exponentially while also preventing any residue from escaping. Needless to say, this awesome teleportation ability came at the price of getting to know the Uchiha clan and to help both Shisui and his brother Itachi work as double agents to help prevent the coup. He'd introduced me to Sasuke and Itachi first as those seemed to be the closest family members to him. Itachi, though a very close second to Shisui and an anbu captain, was a kind yet casual individual. Most of the anbu as well as the Uchiha had very little emotions so one can imagine my shock once I met him. Sasuke, however, was just like I expected him to be. A more childish version of the typical Uchiha would be the perfect description for him. He obviously loved his brother more than anything and was eager to spend time with him but as an anbu captain, there was almost never any time for it. So, I took his place in teaching Sasuke the basic clan techniques when Itachi wasn't available. They were easy enough that I could master it myself in a matter of minutes once Shisui gave me increasingly vague descriptions of them.

"Hey Sasuke, I'm going to teach you an advanced jutsu today." I announced as I led the young Uchiha to the same clearing that Shisui teaches me at. His eyes lit up as he ran in front of me and started walking backwards. Today, I was wearing a plain pink t-shirt and jeans, and had my unruly and somewhat spiky brown hair loose all the way down to my waist. Sasuke was wearing a simply blue t-shirt and shorts. Both of us had blue shinobi saddles and black eyes. It was an early Saturday morning and Naruto was still asleep. I usually let him sleep in on these days.

"Really? What is it? Come on, tell me, tell me!"

"Shhh, shh. Not too loud, ok? I'm not sure whether or not the clan members would allow me to even do this if I asked them so keep it a secret between us, alright?" I said, putting on finger on his lips. Quietly, he nodded before I retracted my hand.

"It's a fire technique called the Phoenix Flower Jutsu. What happens is you rapid-fire a volley of small fireballs in a spread. It's powerful, versatile, low-cost in chakra, and incredibly tough to dodge. I'll show you when we get to-oh, whaddya know." Just as I finished that sentence we made it over to the clearing. Walking in front of huge Uchiha, I took a deep breath and shot multiple small fireballs into the air. There were too many trees around to fire them elsewhere. It's a forest, I'd have to be stupid to-

"Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!" I turned to see Sasuke attempt imitate me, only to fire it straight into the trees.

"Baka!" I muttered under my breath and clicked my tongue while flickering in front of the projectiles and canceling them out with my own, purposefully poor fireballs. Once the jutsu ended I walked over to Sasuke and lightly rapped him over the head. Needless to say he went flying at high velocities towards a tree that I just barely managed to save him from due to my surprise.

I swear, sometimes I'm too strong for my own good...

But, he doesn't need to know of that little slip-up~

"Sasuke! What were you thinking? We're in a FOREST!" I figured that was enough to get him to realize his mistake once his eyes widened and he apologized to me.

"Now that you know, let's go over the jutsu again. I gotta say, you learn pretty fast."

"But that one was horrible..." He said while looking down shamefully. At this, I shook my head vigorously.

"Um, Sasuke, you do realize that you attempted a completely new jutsu for the first time without hand-seals right? Under those circumstances, that was amazing!" I said with an enthusiastic pat on his shoulder. Sasuke's expression brightened.

"Really?"

"Most people take weeks or even months with hand-seals, but at this rate, you could learn ooo do it without seals in one day! Sasuke, I know you sometimes compare yourself to Itachi but don't sell yourself short, you're a one-in-a-million talent!" By now, Sasuke was grinning widely and bouncing in excitement.

"So you ready to get this jutsu down?" I asked, reciprocating his obvious elation. Sasuke simply nodded with a look of determination.

"Then the first thing you should do is..."

ooo

I was biting my nails in nervousness. Shisui was planning to use the Mangekyo Sharingan on the entire Uchiha clan today. I was told to stay completely away from the compound for the duration of the mission, but I couldn't help but feel this sense of foreboding. It was a simple operation, and I knew that the two most powerful Uchihas would stick up for each other if something were to happen. And Shisui has the best body flicker technique in Konoha, he could easily make an escape should something go wrong. I know all of this, but the pain in my chest and the overwhelming sense of urgency just kept increasing with each passing second. Eventually I was as good as smothered in worry and doubt, so I told Naruto that I'd be going out to get some more instant ramen(I'd personally thrown out some of our reserves beforehand so that this excuse would work) and left, headed to Shisui secretly.

I made it there in record time, and searched the surrounding thick fire station for the main operative of this mission. What I found made me wish I'd been here sooner. Shisui was surrounded by the man I recognize as Danzo, one of the peopl there during the meetings discussing the coup. He was the one obviously most against Shisui's plan and I even caught him heatedly arguing with grandpa Hiruzen on several occasions about being too lax. It didn't take long to figure out that he was taking matters into his own hands, so I jumped down there just as he was about to gouge a panting Shisui's eyes. With lightning speed, I plunged my arm through his chest while crushing his heart in a vice grip just before he could finish his attack. I watched as his entire body went limp and fell to the ground lifelessly.

"Shisui-kun, stay back, I'll finish this right now." I didn't even bother looking back before charging the retreating lackeys of what is now a corpse at my feet. With a body flicker, I was instantly in front of them.

"Where do you think you're going?" I asked rhetorically with a wide grin on my face. All that the targets in front of me could do was gasp before I proceeded to mutilate them one by one. The guy directly in front of me attempted to launch a fire style jutsu but was cut short when I chopped his head clean off with my hand. Relying on tree branches would take too long and allow one of them to get away so I didn't even bother with landings. I was simply using bursts of chakra to propel myself at high speeds from person to person, landing instant kill blows from all angles with sickening precision and practiced ease. There wasn't enough time to form a hand seal, raise a kunai, figure out where I was, or even scream before the entire group was reduced nothing but a pile of corpses. I teleported back to Shisui and ignored the shocked look on his face while I began patching him up. They were only flesh wounds, but they were plentiful and the blood loss alone could've proved fatal. Besides, even if they weren't fatal, they were on Shisui.

My Shisui.

"Sorry, I only know basic first-aid, so this is the best I can do. Those were personal operatives weren't they?" I asked. Shisui only nodded dumbly.

"Shisui-kun, I can tell right now that you're in no position to use Mangekyo right now. Tell me, were you planning to just knock them out with the torture long enough for the proper authorities to arrest and interrogate them, or were you planning to kill them?"

"The former. Two days of torture would put their minds into a state of shock for days. I don't know what to do now..."

"I'll knock them unconscious. Itachi's out on a mission and Kishi knows when he'll get back. So for now, I'll carry you to the Hokage's mansion and have him protect you personally. Then, I'll keep the clan at bay until friendly forces arrive." I said. Shisui looked like he was about to explode.

"Eruna-chan, you can't do tha-!"

"You don't know what I'm capable of. Besides, Shisui-kun. This is not open for debate." I cut him off. With that, I threw him onto my back and rushed out of there at full speed.

ooo

"These guys don't quit, do they?" I asked in mild annoyance before kicking a female swordsman coming at me from behind in the gut, sending her flying into a nearby wall with a sickening crack(hint: it wasn't the wall). I'd knocked out dozens of the Uchiha but they just keep coming. I guess stupidity is a more prominent clan trait than the Sharingan. As of right now, I'm casually strolling through the compound, with the endgame being the clan leader's household. Just then a kid no older than 6 charged at me sloppily with a kunai in hand. Needless to say, the strike was easily stopped.

"What the hell!? You pitiful Uchihas are sending fucking toddlers after me now!? If I wasn't here, you losers would still go extinct during the coup!" My taunt had the desired effect as over twenty adults all charged with the fireball jutsu. Including the now unhenged child in front of me.

"Guess I get to test that new technique, huh?" I muttered to myself as the joint fireball attack closed in. I let a smirk make its way onto my face when I launched a huge wall of wind that the flames rode. The fireballs took the shape of the wind I was controlling and started go back towards their creators. Before the Uchihas could alter the chakra that was the now backfiring flames, I made an extra tsunami-like wind current that covered, trapped, and compressed the fire into a single ball-shaped point so small that the only reason I had even the faintest idea that it existed-let alone where it was- was because I was controlling it with my chakra. The Uchihas must've thought it to be some kind of suction jutsu since they payed its course no mind and prepared to throw shurikens my way.

That would prove to be a fatal and final mistake.

After sending the impossible to see ultra-condensed ball of fiery wind chakra next to their heads, I took a step back and then shot all of my wind chakra outwards, also sending a needle of wind to the center of the encased flames to increase the level of expansion within the same time-frame exponentially. Before they had a chance to know what was going on, I created a burning inferno of epic proportions(imagine multiplying the size of the following explosions: a grenade, rpg, t90-a main cannon, and the destruction of said t90-a by a grenade & rpg). Now any normal person would've been utterly cremated by the dancing inferno of death within an approximate 20 meter radius, and these explosions occurred at point blank. But i was here to knock them unconscious and therefore I added a very thick cushion of wind a foot or so outside of the explosion that mirrored its shape so as to not let any fire through and to allow my would-be victims to take around a tenth of the impact. Just that sent them flying so fast that I had to use the body flicker to stop them all from crashing head-first(which would undoubtedly change their concussions into permanent comas at the very least) into the concrete walls of their compound mid flight. My counter jutsu left a crater that seemed completely bottomless even with my pumping chakra into my eyes and casting a fireball jutsu straight down that I never saw the end of. Letting out a quick appreciative whistle and giving myself mental pat on the back, I rushed to the main house.

"Sasuke..." I said unevenly. My heart sped up at the thought of Sasuke's future reaction. I'd be sending the Uchihas involved in the coup- which included a lot of his friends, cousins, and father- to their interrogation and by extension, their inevitable public executions. The entire reasoning behind his struggles to become greater revolved around getting his father to openly reciprocate the love Sasuke had for him, and I'd be permanently keeping him from reaching what is, at the moment, the goal he dedicated his life to. Well I'll cross that bridge when it comes. Which is in 3... 2... 1... Taking a deep, shaky breath, I loudly barged into their living room from the roof. What I saw gave me second thoughts about what I was doing, if only for a moment. Sasuke's mother was just over to my left cooking dinner with a shocked look on her face while Sasuke and his father, whom were at the dinner table mirrored her actions. Before they could recover from their stupor, I launched myself into what I now liked to call it the 'never working speech that will prompt any ninja to question the intelligence and experience of the person who wrote it's involving protocol no matter what endeavor they may be in.'

Long?

Maybe. Completely accurate?

Not even up for debate.

"Attention Uchihas, the Hokage and council has gotten wind of your planned coup d'état against Konoha and have ordered me to stop it. If you have no part in the coup and do not resist, you will be completely free of charges. You," I pointed at Sasuke's father, "will be executed if you resist and sentenced to life in prison if you do not, as it is known that you are the one that planned this. As for children," I looked over to Sasuke, "they will not be held responsible in any way and if the psychological check from the commanding officer of the Konoha Torture and Interrogation Force, Morino Ibiki himself goes well, they will be allowed to continue their lives as they so please." I finished and awaited the ever predictable answer. Desperate not to knowingly fight some of the most important people to Sasuke, I threw in a plead.

"I fought through the rest of your entire clan here with ease. You can't beat me, and if you feel obligated as family to fight," I sent a pleading look to the obviously conflicted Sasuke and his mother who was in similar mental condition, "then please rethink your actions. You two can still walk away clean from this, the rest of the clan will need people to lead them and like I said, none of you can ever hope to defeat me. Any attempts to fight will, can only lead to a worse future for you individually and as a clan." I already knew that Sasuke's parents were going to fight die to their subtly activated Sharingan. There was no hope for his father since he planned this entire coup and, despite the best efforts of the current Hokage and two of his sons, convinced a vast majority of the clan to join in. His wife, to my mild surprise, silently dropped her Sharingan and led Sasuke away from the room. I stole a glance at Sasuke as he left with a worried look adorned on his face.

I turned my attention back to the now armed Uchiha whom was set in his battle stance.

"Fugaku Uchiha. I won't ask why the coup seemed to be a good idea to you as I, before I ever got involved with this clan, was able to see the unfair tension and suspicion set upon you all since the attack of the Kyuubi. I have to admit, I did see the Sharingan pattern in its eyes during my close quarters encounter with it. But I doubt it was someone who's still here since every single available Uchiha was present at the battle, atleast according to what old man Hiruzen told me. So believe me when I say, I completely understand your frustration and anger at the village. But, there's no hope for you if you fight me now. Things can end on a less bitter note. Yes, you'll get life in prison, but your family will be able to visit you regularly and if you don't resist, it might not be maximum security. Meaning you can see and talk to your loved ones every other day. You can continue to help raise Sasuke and give him advice even if it's behind bars, you can retain your respect if you show remorse and allow people to understand it as part of history. Please, lower your tanto, it doesn't have to be this way, it doesn't have to end poorly for everyone. I'm not that only one who knows you're not a bad person..." I said with finality. I saw his expression soften, the loss of tension in his stance. I smiled and began walking towards him with an outstretched hand of companionship. Maybe there's still hope for him after all. Maybe-!

"Die!" His expression scrunched up in disgust as he suddenly lunged at me. In my shock, the only thing that could and would save me was my reflexes. Which included rushing last him with his heart in my hands. With a shocked look on my face, I slowly wrenched my head over to the still beating organ in my left hand. I heard a door slide open and watched Sasuke with his mom enter the living room. I was too shocked to even look at it, to do anything but let the dying piece of flesh and blood slowly fall from my hands. I killed Sasuke's father. I didn't want to, but I didn't have any choice... In my time at my previous clan, I'd long since become unaffected by killing and assassination, but this was Sasuke's dad. Over time, I'd come to see Sasuke as my surrogate little brother. He was like family and such, his family members held a special place in my heart. I knew the incredible level of importance, love, and respect Sasuke had for his father as well, and the fact that I just killed him, when I was so close to getting him to drop his weapon. A hair's length away from letting the family keep and maybe improve their relationship with me also playing a part of it... I broke.

I curled up into a ball right there and screamed and cried. It was a pained cry that shook the compact concrete walls of the Uchiha Compound and reverberated throughout the entire village.

Not even my victim's closest family members could come close.


End file.
